How to Play Solitaire Card Game

Solitaire Overview

Solitaire card game is a one-player game in which the player deals all the cards into a prescribed layout on a tabletop. The player then attempts to reorder the cards by suit and rank through a series of moves that transfers cards from one place to another. The object of the game is to build up four blocks of cards going from Ace to King in each suit, taking cards from the layout if they appear on the table.

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Sometimes the games are impossible to solve, which explains why the alternative name for this game is “Patience.”

Solitaire Rules and Strategy

The Layout

After shuffling thoroughly, you will deal 28 cards into 7 tableau piles with the number of cards per pile increasing from one to seven from left to right. The top card of each tableau is face up, the rest are face down.

For example, the first pile on the left will consist of a single card face up. The second pile will be two cards one face down and then another face up. The third pile should have two cards face down and one face up. This pattern continues for all seven tableau piles.

You will need to leave room at the top of the playing surface to create four foundations. These foundation piles will be created when an Ace becomes available and will be built upon it in ascending order with cards of the same suit from Ace to King.

The remaining cards are placed in the upper left hand corner and become your draw pile.

The Play

Top cards of the tableau piles and the draw pile are available for play. Move cards from one tableau to another by arranging them in descending order and with alternating colors. For example, move a black 5 onto a red 6 or a red Queen onto a black King. When you remove the last face up card from a tableau pile flip over the top face down card making it the new face up card.

If an Ace is the top card of a tableau pile, then move it to start a foundation. Move cards in ascending order to the foundation piles as soon as you can.

The game is won when all cards are moved into the four foundation piles.